Escape to the Movies: Cabin In The Woods

[DPunch4]

Really excited for this movie now, thanks Bob.

 

[Jadak]

Edit: So I spent some time looking up this guy Joss Whedon:
I still have no idea why I should care about this guy or why his name sells this movie for you.
List of accomplishments (that I've seen)
1) The failure that was Titan AE
2) The failure that was Alien: Resurrection
3) Dr. Horrible - hey cool, I liked this short +1
4) The failure that was Atlantis: TLE
Why should I care about him? I liked (almost) nothing he wrote.

----------------------

Just to add the list, other than Dr. Horrible the things you've seen aren't the things he's popular for.

The bulk of his fanbase comes from two things, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.

To a lesser degree there's also Angel(buffy spinoff) and Dollhouse, which were a bit more hit or miss for a lot of people, but around here when you're seeing people say that that his name sells the movie for them, myself included, they're Buffy or Firefly fans (likely both, although on this particular forum Firefly is synonymous with perfection for many people).

So yeah, if you haven't seen Firefly or Buffy, no reason dropping his name should mean anything to you (and you should definitely watch both shows). If you have seen either show and simply didn't like them, then I have no further interest in caring what you think on the matter.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil also took three years to make, it did a much better job deconstructing the slasher genre, it was funnier, and my girlfriend thought the romantic subplot was adorable. So, that happened.

This movie got boring and predictable faster than you can say "written by Joss Whedon," which--when you consider the bug-nut direction this movie pretends its being clever in taking--is saying something.

 

[Furbyz]

Edit: So I spent some time looking up this guy Joss Whedon:
I still have no idea why I should care about this guy or why his name sells this movie for you.
List of accomplishments (that I've seen)
1) The failure that was Titan AE
2) The failure that was Alien: Resurrection
3) Dr. Horrible - hey cool, I liked this short +1
4) The failure that was Atlantis: TLE
Why should I care about him? I liked (almost) nothing he wrote.

----------------------

Soo, you won't review the movie because it'll have spoilers. So this isn't a review, its a 6 minute ad for the movie. Great, thanks a lot. Next time actually try to convince me to go see the movie.

I loath horror movies because they all suck. This is a parody horror movie, but not the funny kind like Scary Movie, where cliche happens because its cliche and everyone in the movie self-knows its cliche. So sell me the movie! Why do I want to go see this? WHHYYYYY? Give me something to work with Bob!

I don't have a hard-on for directors. I don't care about or even know about Whedon. Short of bothering to IMDB his ass, why would I care?

You Haven't Sold Me On The Movie. Try again.

If nothing else, this movie does involve a Unicorn impaling people to shimmery, uplifting music in one scene. Is it just me or do you seem awfully confrontational about this? It's just a movie, man.

And to be fair, Joss' script for Alien: Resurrection was very different from the finished product. The whole "Ripley makes out with her weird hybrid alien pseudo baby" was not him. He hates that film just as much as you.

 

[longboardfan]

Just to add the list, other than Dr. Horrible the things you've seen aren't the things he's popular for.

The bulk of his fanbase comes from two things, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.

To a lesser degree there's also Angel(buffy spinoff) and Dollhouse, which were a bit more hit or miss for a lot of people, but around here when you're seeing people say that that his name sells the movie for them, myself included, they're Buffy or Firefly fans (likely both, although on this particular forum Firefly is synonymous with perfection for many people).

So yeah, if you haven't seen Firefly or Buffy, no reason dropping his name should mean anything to you (and you should definitely watch both shows). If you have seen either show and simply didn't like them, then I have no further interest in caring what you think on the matter.

Those aren't movies Jadak. I look at movie experience for movie script experience, not tv shows. When I look at what movies he's Written for, I see failure after failure. If Serenity makes fans drop their pants and pull out their walletwangs then...wait how long ago was Firefly? Oh, ten years ago. And Buffy ended nine years ago (ten if you're like my sisters and the last season didn't happen). So other than a box office flop, and a short movie created during the writer's strike four years ago, the man has no real track record with success in the last decade. That's not going to sell me a movie in a genre I don't like.

 

[longboardfan]

If nothing else, this movie does involve a Unicorn impaling people to shimmery, uplifting music in one scene. Is it just me or do you seem awfully confrontational about this? It's just a movie, man.

And to be fair, Joss' script for Alien: Resurrection was very different from the finished product. The whole "Ripley makes out with her weird hybrid alien pseudo baby" was not him. He hates that film just as much as you.

No, this is a failure of a movie review. If you didn't want spoilers, don't watch reviews. That's what reviews ARE, they REVIEW the movie. If all I wanted was a six minute long advertisement for the movie, I'd go watch the Trailer. "oh but whatabout the people that just want confirmation that the movie is good?" First few seconds say: "movie is good, go watch." Roll opening: spoilers: <this is me talking about the movie and why its so good without worshiping Joss Whedon, while using objective and/or subjective data from the movie>.

 

[Jadak]

Just to add the list, other than Dr. Horrible the things you've seen aren't the things he's popular for.

The bulk of his fanbase comes from two things, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.

To a lesser degree there's also Angel(buffy spinoff) and Dollhouse, which were a bit more hit or miss for a lot of people, but around here when you're seeing people say that that his name sells the movie for them, myself included, they're Buffy or Firefly fans (likely both, although on this particular forum Firefly is synonymous with perfection for many people).

So yeah, if you haven't seen Firefly or Buffy, no reason dropping his name should mean anything to you (and you should definitely watch both shows). If you have seen either show and simply didn't like them, then I have no further interest in caring what you think on the matter.

Those aren't movies Jadak. I look at movie experience for movie script experience, not tv shows. When I look at what movies he's Written for, I see failure after failure. If Serenity makes fans drop their pants and pull out their walletwangs then...wait how long ago was Firefly? Oh, ten years ago. And Buffy ended nine years ago (ten if you're like my sisters and the last season didn't happen). So other than a box office flop, and a short movie created during the writer's strike four years ago, the man has no real track record with success in the last decade. That's not going to sell me a movie in a genre I don't like.

I wasn't trying to convince you to see the movie, nor care any distinctions you want to make between movies and television shows, I was merely pointing out the source of his fanbase. If that source doesn't hold and weight with you, then there's obviously no reason his name should make any difference.

And of course, he somehow got handed the Avengers movie, the quality of which has no bearing on anything at the moment seeing as it's not out yet, just something I find odd considering, as you pointed out, his lack of involvement with large theatrical projects. Being a fan, I'm happy with the choice and curious about how it'll turn out, but he's certainly an odd choice to be put at the helm of a major summer blockbuster like that.

 

[Metalrocks]

not coming any time in my country. not even on the "coming soon" list. im interested in it. i might give this one a try.

 

[Axyun]

Hmm, I might have to check this out. I saw the trailer once on youtube and immediately dismissed it as another dumb, stereotypical horror movie with sci-fi elements featuring copy-pasted characters we've seen a million times over. Seems like that's not the case.

But, as much as I often agree with your reviews, Bob, I must be careful. I hated Watchmen and Sucker Punch and have no desire to see another movie of a similar vein.

 

[gorfias]

My guess from the trailers was that it's gonna break the fourth wall or something and 'turns out, it was you'. Or something like that.

Also yea, how exactly did Chriss look so much younger in this, that's the first thing I thought when you were showing clips, he looks about 5-10 years younger than he did in Thor.

That really would have been neat if they had a camera in the theatre to turn on the audience. Closest I've ever come to that kind of experience was "The Never Ending Story"

 

[FallenTraveler]

I saw this yesterday after hearing the first thirty seconds of bobs review and looking up a little bit about who was at the helm... God damn. Joss Whedon as writer, Cloverfield Director as Director.

Walking in I wasn't sure, but I quickly found myself loving the movie, and Bob is correct, the last 20 minutes or so is mindblowing.

Anywho, just like bob said, go see this, go see this now.

This is my new favorite film.

 

[MonkeyPunch]

First off: dammit! I really want to watch this film, so I didn't watch the review.

Secondly: Thanks a ton for doing it this way Bob. Really appreciated.
I haven't even seen the trailers for this movie yet so I'll be going in to this movie without any idea what's going on.

I must remember to watch this video in full once I have watched the film though.

Again thanks for being so considerate

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

I'm just going to say it: I don't like Joss Whedon. I don't like the way he writes characters, I don't like how insufferably smug his "wit" is, I don't like how interchangeable any characters from any of his works are with any characters from any of his other works and I especially don't like how, rather than having actual relationships, all his characters ever seem to do is posture with each other.
Case in point, Captain America's line in the Avengers trailer: "Big man in a suit. Take that away and what are you?" Now, I'm not big on the comic history, so I can't comment on that, but based on what I've seen of the movies, I can understand Cap not liking to Tony Stark much. Cap is a responsible, properly morally aligned relic from an age when politeness was much more strongly expected of people, while Tony is a smug, self-satisfying businessman whose attempts to learn genuine responsibility haven't quite taken effect yet. Yes, I can see the two not quite getting on well at first, but based on the way he was portrayed in his movie, I cannot see Steve Rogers saying something so fratboy douchebaggy as "Big man in a suit. Take that away, what are you?" As if he need to prove something to himself by demeaning Stark.
That is, however, the only way that Joss Whedon knows how to write character interactions.

I also can't stand how people forget there are other styles of writing besides Whedon's so we end up with way to much of his pseudo-wit in other people's work (especially in video games). Whedon doesn't know how to do anything else and I feel like his dialogue hasn't really aged well due to it being aped and him refusing to evolve (which, like I said earlier, might be attributed to his poor handling of criticism)

 

[The_Waspman]

Yeah, can't say I agree with Bob's 'review' at all (but then, I started taking huge doses of salt with his reviews since his glowing review of the entirely forgettable Captain America).

While I'm not someone who loves or loathes Whedon (I watched Buffy back in the day, even though I thought it was cheesy back then, and I loved Firefly - at the time. Its borderline unwatchable now) this film was nowhere near as clever as it thought it was.

A film that goes out of its way to point out - highlight - and damn well depend on its cliches is still cliched.

And yeah, it isn't scary at all. Its not a horror film, its science fiction.

 

[Skeleon]

Wow, that... that actually sounds really awesome. Gonna have to check it out.

 

[Arkvoodle]

So when this movie comes in short at the box office because its up against "Stooges," "Hunger Games" and "Titanic" on its anniversary weekend, will it be the new ART VS MONEY debate/rant we saw over & over for Scott Pilgrim losing to The Expendables?

 

[Coreless]

I saw this yesterday after hearing the first thirty seconds of bobs review and looking up a little bit about who was at the helm... God damn. Joss Whedon as writer, Cloverfield Director as Director.

Walking in I wasn't sure, but I quickly found myself loving the movie, and Bob is correct, the last 20 minutes or so is mindblowing.

Anywho, just like bob said, go see this, go see this now.

This is my new favorite film.

Mindblowing? I just got back from watching the movie about 20 minutes ago and I have to say going in completely blind with only the same 30 secs of Moviebobs review that it was...kinda mediocre to say the least. I am sorry but if you couldn't see how this story was going to play out within the first 20 mins with all the information given you have absolutely no imagination whatsoever. Sure the cast was good, the idea behind the movie overall was solid enough but I have seen (heard) better, crazier concepts in black metal songs that were more enjoyable and ominous.

I have been taking Moviebobs advice on a few movies and seen some of the ones he recommended but this time I felt he really blew this one out of proportion, it just felt way too predictable. I am pretty sure most horror movie fans will see the movie no matter what but I don't think any of them will be taken by surprise with the outcome, its all given away way too fast. I personally feel they should have just let the answers come out from the main characters exploration and not given away within the first 20 mins. I consider myself a fan of Whedons past work and think he definitely makes some interesting shows but this movie just didn't do much for me.

 

[kuros_overkill]

Why I hate my life:
here is a list of what is playing near me this weekend:
http://www.cineplex.com/Theatres/TheatreDetails/Galaxy-Cinemas-Prince-Albert.aspx

notice whats missing... notice what else is missing.
Notice what IS playing. notice what ELSE is playing.

I have officially had it with this mainstream BULLSHIT!

(sorry, needed to vent, and at least here, it would be to people who would 'get it')

 

[Existentialistme]

*SPOILERS*

I'll be honest in saying that I was also less than impressed by the ending, namely because once I realized what it was borrowing from Lovecraftian horror it was kind of predictable, espcially given the generally left wing morality being espoused in the media today, though this isn't really a political rant per se.

See, the whole set up makes it pretty clear that the people in the cabin have to die for humanity as a whole, creating quite a conundrum as the survivors realize the reality of the situation. As a result I kind of felt that the "final girl" stereotype should have shot the stoner, or the stoner, who was basically supposed to be a good guy, should have shot himself. I could have dealt with the ending if they had made some point about breaking the cycle and perhaps being able to defeat this evil in the modern age, and themselves survived, but the whole "whelps, the right thing to do is to die ourselves but do it in such a way that humanity has to face the wrath of the Old Ones anyway" was just plain out F@cked up and oddly enough seemed out of character for the guy who was in the position where he needed to die to begin with.

If you respond to me about the ending (please keep it polite, even if you disagree), or other elements, please remember your spoiler tag.

*SPOILERS*

Unfortunately I cannot take credit for this interpretation.

"The 'ancient gods' are the audience. The international house locations are the various countries that have been submitting regularly to the horror genre in the last decade or so. Granted, Sweden and France probably should have had a bit more of a nod, but the reference makes much more sense in context.

And the whole 'eight minutes until sunrise' bit?? Guess what happens eight minutes later? Yup, lights up in the theater. The movie, and the world within it are over?everyone is effectively dead."

To me it ended in the only way it could have - they had an idea and ran with it. And since the movie doesn't take itself seriously, it completely worked. They weren't trying to create some deep and profound movie that makes you think - they were trying create a fun cinematic experience, to which I feel they accomplished perfectly. I had tons of fun.